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Re: young newbee

So what I was trying to show is, that your daughter will never see/observe those intimate insights into a beehive with a frame hive.

In a Warré without frames the bees attach combs right to window, allowing full insights without to have to open the hive. You do not open the hive, just the window. With frames you see just the side bars of the frames.

I don't argue about 8/10 frame langs being a good and similiar beekeeping tool, no doubt about it. But from an observation point of view, there is nothing better than a fixed comb hive with windows. Bee TV.

Re: young newbee

Bernhard, apparently a picture is worth a thousand words. Daughter was chanting, "Win.Dow.Win.Dow", as we scrolled through. Here we are:

Warre. Windows. Top bars and half-frames, adjusted to suit the preferences of our bees. Depth will be short by 9/32", out of sheer laziness and convenience. Pine, due to weight. If we are feeling very ambitious, and our bee supplier can shake off a second package, we will build a second from Douglas fir. Still don't know if they will end up on the island, the old mill stand, or tucked up against the cabin. Still don't know about top vs bottom entrance.

We almost went with the 8 frame medium Langs. They DO make the most sense, all around, for the honey-focused keeper. Truthfully, this kiddo is more bee-focused than honey-focused. Although, honey sticks would be great

Construction starts this Sunday. When you see photos of Daughter in her purple bee suit, I know that white makes it easier to see the bees. Sometimes, you just gotta support a girl's desire to follow her bliss. Even if you know she's gonna get stung at some point.

Re: young newbee

No need to get stung as calmness and peacefulness can be breed pretty easy. Do get calm bees from a breeder who cares about it.

Put the hive near the house, since it allows quick glances and observations. Actually I do have two observation hives in my attic.

It is priceless to live with the bees close by. I actually have them above my sleeping room and can hear them at night. They do sort of humm and sing different songs throughout the days and season. In summer I meet the queen at 11 pm when she appears at the window every day at the same time. Bees do have a inner clock and live according to it.

So get the bees as close as the bears allow. You mightuse an electric fence or such, don't have bears over here so can't really help with that.

Use a small entrance at the bottom and another one close to the top. Bees do not care much, except in winter and spring when moisture has to get out of the hive. Just drill a hole into the boxes at the bottom and top. Or use an eke with a small entrance.

If you manipulate the hive by continued supering at Springtime, you get a lot of honey. If you have strong flows throughout the year,you don't need a queen excluder, but I use one because we have a short and strong flow right at the beginning of the season and that is it. Nothing coming in after the first flow. (Have to move hives.)

Re: young newbee

With a long bread knife loose the sides of the comb.

Best is a bowl that is 300mm x 300mm in square, put two bars on top and on that the hive box. After loosing the sides flip over the box, and from above cut diagonally under the topbar. From both sides. The comb comes off and drops into the bowl.

Here I simply made a cut in the center of the comb and let the half of the comb drop in a round bowl.

Dice the comb with the knife.

Into the press.

It would be better too use a pressing bag, so you can remove the wax rests in one go.

Looks tasty....

I got to taste it. ink:

Press with care. Slow. Pull until you feel a resistance. Wait. Pull again. This way it works pretty good. Takes 10 minutes.

Re: young newbee

If you don't use a pressing bag, you got to scratch the wax rests out of the pressing cage.

The residues of the pressing I put into a pan. I slowly heat that pan with wx and honey, making it both liquid. Then I let it cool down slowly so wax and honey seperates. The honey I use for mead making. Wax goes into candles.

After waiting some time - so the wax floats up - I start filling the jars.

Re: young newbee

Wow, thanks Bernhard! There appears to be a shallower box, below your two upper observation boxes - what is the purpose of this? Is this where your excluder is located? And, no quilt? Due to higher temperature in attic? Do you know the approximate weight of a full Warre box?

We are expecting Seeley's book in any day (thank you for the suggestion, Scott) and are using David Heaf's instructions on construction. I've been rifling through other threads for details on hardware/carpentry. We have some very old windows stored away, they will be donating panes of glass. Many people have commented on the reduced visibility of plexi over time, as it gets scratched.

Top vs. bottom: it looks like (from the doc you linked to, Bernhard) they prefer high hives, with bottom entrances. This makes an attic hive perfect! However, we don't have an attic. Still lots to figure out regarding location and maintenance, but we are excited to get started!

Re: young newbee

Hi Bernhard,

> It would be better too use a pressing bag, so you can remove the wax rests in one go.

Okay, I've made a note of that! Two more questions -- do you use any filter screens at all? After warming the wax/honey remains, could I feed this honey back to the bees? (Or has it been heated too much by this point?)

Re: young newbee

Originally Posted by KMP

...do you use any filter screens at all?

Depends. I like wax and all in my honey. Sometimes I fill the honey straight into the jar. All the wax floating on top of the honey, being a wax lid keeping all the volatile stuff inside the honey. I think this is pure gold. But most other beekeepers do not like this, mostly they do not know this, so they don't like it. Most friends love it and ask for it.

However I filter some of the honey sometimes for people who want this. You could use a standard double sieve sitting on top of the bucket below the press. I did and works. Let sit and scrape off the wax the day after. Pretty clean. One could filter it even more. But what's the point?

Originally Posted by KMP

...After warming the wax/honey remains, could I feed this honey back to the bees?

No, wouldn't. Since it is heated it has HMF which can be poisonous to bees in certain amounts. I dilute it in water when making mead so the content of HMF is lowered per litre. If you want to feed i, simply feed back the wax and honey. No need to seperate from wax beforehand. Bees clean up the honey you can take away the wax then.

Re: young newbee

Originally Posted by BernhardHeuvel

...The residues of the pressing I put into a pan. I slowly heat that pan with wx and honey, making it both liquid. Then I let it cool down slowly so wax and honey seperates. The honey I use for mead making. Wax goes into candles....

Hi Bernhard, very nice show! Thanks. I do not have such nice press, so I crush-and-strain. I have a comment to your technique - instead heating honey-wax leftovers, I just mix it with the water, let it sit for 2-3 days in open pan, mix it periodically. Than I just filter the wax and debris, moved liquid into the bottle, place air-lock and it is beginning of the mead. In this approach, some elements are extracted from the wax, thus, mead have strong "beehive" taste - some people do not like it.

Re: young newbee

Chem free is what every new beekeeper wants to do. But if it is your daughter you are concerned about, most the available chems used in hives are not a risk to her.

Going chem free is not just simply, not using them, although for a few, that works. Your daughter would likely be more upset to find all her bees in a big dead heap. The reasons for medicating bees are the same as for medicating any other livestock or even ourselves, sometimes it's necessary.

Your call though, just saying this incase you like many people starting, think you just don't use chems, and all will be fine.

And my own position on the matter? Most of my bees get chemically treated as needed for varroa control, but I have some hives that are not treated regardless, even though they die.

Re: young newbee

We will feed when necessary, as we're the ones stranding the poor girls out there. No chems though. We'll do all we can, but, they might just get sick and die. Lessons to be learned there as well.

(Hmmm, I hope that you don't apply this same policy to your children -- some people who perhaps missed out on polio, etc., seem to think that child vaccinations are now a bad thing.)

I just wanted to add that there is more than one way to treat a hive for varroa (should it be necessary). Here in Germany beekeepers largely use formic and oxalic acid treatments. Both of these organic acids are naturally found in honey in small amounts. As with any "chemical" (including table salt and baking soda) that one handles, some minimal precautions are necessary.

Re: young newbee

Well they are both living things. However your point is correct, anthropomorphism can be taken to extreme.

As a humorous but true example, I can remember on another board, a guy arguing that because Polynesian people (in my country), have a higher rate of diabetes, and they also eat more refined sugar than whites, therefore you should not feed refined sugar to bees. To him it was case proven, and he just could not see why nobody else was buying it LOL!